A Lack Of Timely Hits...Angels 5 Red Sox 4

The Boston Red Sox are in an early hitting slump, especially with runners in scoring position. They are batting .100 (3-30) in those situations, not good at all. They've been outscored 29-22 and the team ERA is 5.02. It's early, I know, but still a little troubling. Remember this...they've played six games, all against playoff caliber teams (California & Tampa Bay.) Kevin Youkilis summarized the Boston situation perfectly...

“We’ve got a long ways to go and we’re not playing the best baseball we can play but we’re playing all right - it’s early,” Kevin Youkilis said. “We’re a team once we get rolling and score some runs, we’re going to do some damage. If we were losing 10-4 every game, there would be a problem, or 10-2. We’re close, we’re in every game pretty much. If it comes down to one swing to drive in a run to win or tie the game, that’s where you need to be. A lot of times we say, ‘We needed to get blown out,’ we can handle that when you lose, it gets wiped clean but these games are good, too, because you’re close and you’re battling. We’ve got a long way to go and we’ve got a great team here that’s going to do a lot of good things.”

Kevin, you said it better than I could. The Sox had a golden opportunity to put up a crooked number in the eighth inning...Mikey Lowell was at the plate with the bases full of teammates. There was one out and he was looking for that perfect pitch, middle, belt to letter high. He got it but he popped out and on the next pitch, the captain, Jason Varitek, made the last out of the inning. That was all she wrote.

Congratulation go out to Masters champion Angel Cabrera, who won the green jacket on the second playoff hole. It was a riveting six hour CBS HD telecast...the back and forth between Mikelson and Woods was worth the price of admission (free) alone, but they couldn't come up with a tournament changing shot, much like the Boston Red Sox couldn't come up with a game changing hit. The frustration was evident on the golfer's faces, much like the faces of the Red Sox players. That's sports for you, but Cabrera was gracious and he seemed like an extremely likeable guy, especially on the second playoff hole. It was a "fist pumping" celebration of sheer and utter glee. I hope he plays in the Travelers Open, which is held just outside my hometown, Hartford, Connecticut.

I hope your Monday, tough as they are, will be a great one. Thanks for stopping by. You can click on this post's title for more Red Sox stuff and as always, BE WELL. Boston needs a win tonight against the Oakland A's. Their starting pitchers will be Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka and (gulp) Tim Wakefied. This is a team the Sox should beat. LET'S DO IT...now! See ya.